“Big ones. It’s something we can get into later,” he said. Cass didn’t need the added weight of his baggage at the moment.
Fortunately, she went along with his suggestion. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
He gave her a reassuring squeeze before circling back to her earlier comment. “What do you mean by broken?”
It was her turn to deflect. “How about I share that story when we’ve been together a little longer than a week, or when you share yours?”
Which implied she was hoping this would last longer than the weekend—something he could get behind. Grayson covered the hand on his chest and curled his fingers around hers. He was relieved when she returned the gesture.
“Deal.” He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss to the back of it. “What about your dad? What’s his contribution?”
“He’s a pattern mage from a family that made serious money in the tech industry. That cash was helpful when he and Mother decided to expand the family business.” She made air quotes around the last word.
The man bought his way into an elite family. Interesting. “Gotcha. I wasn’t aware strategical planning was such a profitable business, but considering your family’s magical bent, I guess that makes sense.”
She gave an amused huff. “It does and it doesn’t.”
“Not following.”
Her lips tightened as her shoulder rose and fell in a jerky shrug. “When it comes to accurate predictions, Pythia is the best of the best—hence their ability to charge top dollar. It’s also why their main clientele come from the Arcane Families and their businesses.”
He heard her thinly veiled distaste. “And that’s a bad thing?”
Cass’s gaze roamed over his face, and the shadows that drifted through her eyes hinted at deep hurts and a deeper anger. “It is when the right price ensures that the predictions are in your favor.”
Why that surprised him, he didn’t know. The Families were nothing if not ruthlessly capitalistic, but to shift actual events to meet their ends… “They can do that?”
She nodded.
A shiver of disgust crawled over him. “That sounds remarkably…”
“Illegal? Unethical?” she offered.
Evil would be his choice, but instead, he said, “Either. Both.”
Her soft “Yeah” was followed by a harsh exhalation. “I shared that opinion with my parents.”
“I’m sure that went over like a lead balloon.”
“Let’s just say body armor became de rigueur for family dinners. It got worse when they realized I had no intention of ever working for Pythia. Then Yaya got involved and sided with me. The arguments got so bad she eventually chose to step down rather than continue to play a part in the business.”
He had a feeling there were a lot of details she was leaving out, but her story did, in part, explain the rift with her family. “Can’t say I blame either one of you.” He squeezed her hand. “Does Sofia know what’s happening at Pythia?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like it’s an easy thing to prove. The company’s never been sanctioned, never faced any legal repercussions or things like that. It’s more whispered comments than anything else, and whispers are easily squashed when you’ve got heavy hitters that can back you up.”
“The Families.”
She nodded. “They don’t want to risk losing their crystal ball, so…”
“Your parents continue to call the shots.”
“Exactly. No one at Pythia will stop them. Last I checked, eleven Sages of various strength were employed there, and each one had some sort of tie to my parents. They’re not going to screw their paychecks by speaking out.”
“So the natural-inclination thing means Oracles aren’t a common occurrence?” he asked.
“There’s maybe one per generation.”
“That explains why your parents wanted you on board.”
